Four Friends, One Destiny
by Mylinda Antoinette
Summary: The beginning of the Lyoko gang: How they met, became friends, found the factory and Aelita, and went on their first mission. On hiatus due to the sudden disappearance of the co-author.
1. A New School

Okay, this story has been a while in coming, but it's s.joann.c and my version of how the gang originally met. There will be some surprises! Just wait and find out! Story title credit goes to s.joann.c, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her for her contributions to the story.

Co-Author's note from s.joann.c (she's considered a co-author by me since she's helping me with this project and will be writing a series to go after it): This is not just a story about friends and drama and fights and reconciliation. It's a tale of a boy finding his path in a world of highways, of a boy who learns that growing up isn't all that bad after all.  
Please enjoy Mylinda Antoinette and s.joann.c.'s tale of what happened when not just a world was discovered, but the adventure of a lifetime was too.

* * *

An eleven-year-old, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy with glasses sat with his parents and three suitcases in the main office of Kadic Boarding School in France.

"Mr. and Mrs. Belpois and Jeremy, Mr. Delmas will see you now," the secretary informed them. The boy picked up his suitcases and stepped into the principal's office, accompanied by his parents.

"Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Belpois! As I told you when I spoke with you on the phone a few weeks ago, it is an honor to have such a bright young man coming to our school. Jeremy, here is the key to your room, and I will have our physical education teacher, Jim, escort you there."

"Reminds me of when I worked as a bellboy in that hotel in Paris," Jim Morales grumbled.

Mr. Delmas stared at him strangely. "You worked as a bellboy?"

Jim looked at him. "I'd… rather not talk about it, sir." Jean-Pierre Delmas, the headmaster of the school, rolled his eyes as he looked back at the trio in front of him.

"I apologize for Jim's… unusual behavior. Anyway, I'm sure you have important things you must attend to, so, Jeremy, here is your schedule and a map of the school. I trust that this establishment will measure up to your expectations, Mr. and Mrs. Belpois."

"Thank you, sir," Michael Belpois said, escorting his wife and son out of the room. Jim followed them.

"Mom, Dad, remind me again why you're sending me here," Jeremy said in a very annoyed tone of voice. Of course, if you'd been uprooted from the place you knew like the back of your own hand against your will to be sent to a boarding school on the other side of the country, you'd probably be just as upset.

"Jeremy, this school is highly regarded as providing a challenge for students as advanced in their mental processes as you are," Mrs. Anita Belpois explained gently. "Jeremy, we love you very much, it's not that we don't want you! On the contrary, we're sending you here _because_ we love you so much!"

"And did you know that your mother and I went to this school when we were your age? In fact, this is where we met!" Michael told his son.

"Oh really?" Jeremy said, faking interest.

"Jeremy, we wouldn't be sending you here if we didn't think it was in your best interests. Besides, here they'll let you skip a grade, which they wouldn't let you do at your last school!" Anita pleaded. Jeremy sighed.

"Did you have my computer moved here?" he asked, almost afraid to hope, since they wanted more than anything to get him away from his computer.

"Yes, we did, since we felt it would make the transition easier," Michael sighed. "Part of our hope, though, in sending you here was that you'd develop a life away from your computer, since we separated you from your squabbling siblings!"

"Nice alliteration, Dad," Jeremy exclaimed sarcastically, rolling his eyes as they stopped in front of his dorm.

"Well, here you go, Belpois," Jim said. "Here's your dorm, your computer is already set up inside. As per your parents' request, you will not be sharing a dorm. I'll leave you to get settled in." He went back downstairs.

"Well, Jeremy, we have to get back. I don't know how long your brothers and sisters will last without killing each other," Anita laughed. Michael laughed with her.

"Bye, Mom and Dad," Jeremy said, hugging them- the first sincere things he had said and done since arriving at the school.

"We'll miss you, Genius, so don't forget to call us from time to time," Michael choked out, hugging his son back.

"How can I, Dad? My dorm doesn't have a phone!"

"Oh, that's right! Here, honey," Anita said, handing her son a package.

Jeremy quickly opened the package and his face lit up, for inside was a brand new cell phone. He was at a loss for words.

"If you need anything, let us know. We set up a bank account at the nearest bank for you. There's €3,000 in there, so if you need something right away, don't hesitate to pull from that. Your pin number is the last few digits of your phone number." Michael hugged his son again. "We'll call you when we get home, okay, sport?"

"I love you, Mom and Dad," Jeremy exclaimed, throwing his arms around them once more.

"We love you, too, Jeremy," Anita and Michael said at the same time, hugging him back before walking down the hall. Jeremy watched them, tears pouring from his eyes. There went his parents, the only people he really connected with. He had never really gotten along very well with his siblings, since they were all very athletic, and his two sisters enjoyed girly things, while his brothers couldn't tell a computer chip from a potato chip.

He stood there a while before he unlocked his door, picked up his suitcases, and went into his room to unpack. When he opened the door and looked inside, he saw his computer sitting on a desk by the window. His bed was against the wall to his left, and he had a cabinet and some shelves lining the wall to his right. On the shelves were some of his computer things, gismos and gadgets he used when fixing computers. He quickly put away his things and got his high-tech computer hooked up PROPERLY within a half anhour. Jim had COMPLETELY messed up!Then he plugged in his laptop and began doing some things on it. His parents called him to tell him they had arrived home safely, but he didn't answer his phone, so they left him a message. When it was time for bed, he put his laptop away, got into his pajamas, and fell fast asleep.

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Hope the end wasn't too rushed! Please review, and PLEASE, if you're going to give flames, provide examples of passages that need work! Chapter two, by s.joann.c, is in the process of being completed for posting and should be posted by next Friday! Bye for now!


	2. Girlfriends

Okay, this chapter is shorter than the rest will probably be, but that's okay! This chapter was contributed by s.joann.c, with a few adjustments done by yours truly! Please enjoy, and many thanks to sargentaaron2004 and Starlight Girl for their wonderful reviews!

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**The Previous Day**

"Hello, Mr. Ishiyama," a squeaky voice called on the other line. "Is Yumi there?"

Mr. Ishiyama chuckled, "You know she is." He eyed his daughter jumping in order to get the phone from her teasing father. He handed it to her as she grabbed for it excitedly.

"Sissi! What's new?"

A giggle and then, "You'll never guess who I saw at the store!"

"Well who?" Yumi demanded playfully.

"Ulrich Stern!" Yumi drew a blank and said nothing. "Don't you know him?"

"Uh…"

"I'll tell you all about it some other time I guess, my dad has to use the phone," Sissi interjected hurriedly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

**Earlier On the Day of Jeremy's Arrival**

It was indeed tomorrow when the two schoolmates saw each other. Yumi, who was a year ahead of her best friend Sissi, liked to wear her hair in pigtails. Her hair was jet black, which complimented her periwinkle tank top nicely. Sissi, who was two inches shorter than her friend, had black hair as well. Her outfit, though, was pink from headband to pants to even her loafers.

It was before first hour when Yumi and Sissi met up again. "So…"

"Oh, what I was going to tell you! I saw Ulrich!"

Yumi put her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue. "I don't know who Ulrich is!"

Sissi turned Yumi around and pointed in the distance. There was the skinny frame of a boy in a green polo shirt with yellow stripes across it stopped under a tree searching through his messenger bag. All she could see was the brown gel-spiked hair on top of his head.

As if he was answering her silent call of lifting his head, he slowly obeyed and his dark brown eyes met hers. He stopped looking through his bag and stood up straight.

"You don't know him? You really should." The warning bell rang for the students to get to class.

"See you at lunch, Yumi!" Sissi called, smiling, as she began walking briskly toward her first class.

"Bye, Sissi," Yumi replied, entering the classroom. She took her seat next to Anaïs Fiquet. Matthias Burel sat across from her, next to Caroline Savorani. In front of her were Christophe M'Bala and Emmanuel Maillard. The tardy bell rang and Mr. Fumet, the history teacher, stepped into the classroom.

"All right, class," he began, shutting the door quietly, "Today we are going to discuss the causes and effects of the French and Indian war waged against the Americas…"

Yumi's mind drifted back to Ulrich's rich, chocolate brown eyes. They were so soft and warm… 'Wait a second,' she thought. 'I barely know this kid!' She shook her head and returned her attention to the lesson at hand.

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Okay, what did you think? Any questions, comments? Remember this story happens a year before the first season! Please leave a review, and thank you all in advancefor taking the timeto review my story!


	3. New Friends in a Strange Place

Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! Life caught up with me, and if I pass World Geography, it will be a miracle. If I didn't pass, I will have to do summer school, which will mean I'll be just as busy this summer. It's not that I didn't learn the stuff, I just had a lot of missing work and low quiz grades, and that brought my grades down. I think I probably BARELY passed English. Either way, it gives s.joann.c and me great pleasure to post this chapter today. Thanks for sticking around!

P.S. I'm going to try to update all my stories sometime during this break, with at least one new chapter for each, even my Star Wars stories. I will TRY to get up the next story in my Sonic series, but no promises!

* * *

Jeremy awoke the next morning, which was Monday. He put his glasses back on, then took a towel, a washcloth, and some odds and ends, such as bath soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, and left his room. After he stepped out, he realized he didn't know where the boys' shower rooms were.

Suddenly, he heard the door across the hall from him open. He looked and saw a boy with brown hair and brown eyes and a defined musculature that indicated he was skilled in martial arts emerge, followed by a stranger boy with blond hair that had a splotch of purple in it, as if someone had spilled grape juice in it, which was shaped into a cone on his head, and he had purple eyes.

"Ulrich, come on, you know you like Yumi!" the blond and purple haired boy was declaring.

"Odd, I don't even know her very well yet! I only met her yesterday, for goodness sakes!" Ulrich, the brown haired boy growled.

"Um, excuse me, but could you two show me to the shower rooms?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich and the other boy looked at him.

"You must be the new kid," Ulrich said. "Hi, my name is Ulrich, welcome!"

"And I'm Odd," the other boy said.

"I figured that out, what's your name?" Jeremy inquired.

"That _is_ my name," Odd sighed. "_Everybody_ says that!" Ulrich and Jeremy laughed.

"I'm Jeremy," Jeremy introduced himself. "So, are you going to show me to the shower rooms or not?"

Ulrich and Odd laughed. "Of course," Ulrich agreed.

* * *

After they were showered and dressed, Ulrich and Odd showed Jeremy to the lunchroom. Jeremy showed them his schedule, and Ulrich and Odd found that they shared all their classes. Then Ulrich saw Yumi walking through the cafeteria. His and Yumi's eyes caught once again. Yumi smiled and made her way over to him.

"Hi, mind if I sit here?" she inquired.

"Sure, go ahead," Odd interjected.

"My name is Yumi. You're Odd," she guessed, pointing to Odd as she sat down next to Jeremy, who was sitting across from Ulrich and Odd, "and you're Ulrich, right?" she asked, pointing to Ulrich.

"That's me," Ulrich agreed. "How did you know?"

"Let's just say Odd is well-known among the girls around here, and I know you because my best friend pointed you out to me," she replied.

"Who's your best friend?" Odd inquired.

"Sissi Delmas," Yumi replied as Odd snorted.

"That stuck-up brat?" he began before Ulrich elbowed him in the ribs. "Owww, Ulrich, what'd you do that for?" he whined.

"You don't say things like that about other people's best friends, especially not right in front of them!" he scolded. Then he turned to Yumi. "Please forgive Odd's severe lack of manners."

"That's okay," Yumi replied. Then she looked at Jeremy. "Who are you?"

"My name is Jeremy. I'm new around here, so it's no surprise you don't know me!"

"Well, welcome to Kadic Academy, Jeremy!"

"I would like to warn all of you that I am a first-rate computer nerd, I'm really smart, and I'm also in the seventh grade."

"Wait a minute," Odd protested. "How can you be in the same grade as Ulrich and me? You're a full year younger than the two of us!"

"Isn't it obvious, Odd? He skipped a grade!" Ulrich offered.

"Oh, yeah! I never thought of that!" Odd replied sheepishly.

"That's all right, Odd, you were just having a pre-mature senior moment," Yumi laughed. "I get those all the time and I'm not even in my senior year _here_ yet!"

The three boys laughed. They talked for a few more minutes before Jeremy posed a question. "Yumi, why don't you have a tray?"

"Oh, I live off-campus. I'm Japanese, and my parents are very traditional, so I get to eat a home-cooked breakfast every morning!"

"Lucky," Jeremy whispered softly, looking down and pushing his food around his plate, suddenly looking very depressed. Concern quickly became apparent on the faces of the three others.

"What is it, Jeremy?" Odd asked out of concern for his new schoolmate.

"I just… I miss my parents," Jeremy admitted quietly, a tear falling from each one of his eyes. "They were my only friends, the only people I ever really connected with!" Yumi put her arm across his shoulder and gave him a little squeeze.

"You know, Jeremy, I went through the same thing about a year or two ago when I first came here," Ulrich offered.

Jeremy looked up, giving a little sniffle. "Really?"

Ulrich nodded. "My parents were all I ever had. My grandparents live in other countries, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. So they were really important to me!"

Jeremy sniffled again. "How did you get over it?"

Ulrich smiled. "I immediately met a new friend, who was also new to the school- Odd, my roommate. Odd missed his parents, his older brother, and his older sister. We kind of looked out for each other, and we eventually learned to deal with the separation." Odd smiled, too.

"And you've got it easier than we did, because you have three new friends already! We'll always be happy to help you get through anything!"

Jeremy smiled, his sadness forgotten. "Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate you all being so nice. So, who is this Sissi person you were talking about earlier?" he inquired curiously. Yumi smiled, Ulrich's expression remained blank, and Odd rolled his eyes. They then launched into a discussion about Sissi, which was quickly halted by the warning bell.

"See you guys at lunch!" Yumi called as she ran off.

As she exited the lunchroom, somebody grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. "Hey, Yumi! Where were you this morning? You were supposed to meet me out front, remember?" Sissi exclaimed, letting go of Yumi's arm.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I got here a little earlier than usual this morning and decided to find out more about this Ulrich guy," Yumi replied, clearly sorry.

"Really? What'd you find out!" Sissi asked greedily.

"I'll meet you in your room after school to tell you, okay?"

"All right," Sissi reluctantly agreed. "But how did you find out?"

"I went straight to the source! I asked him! I sat with him and his friends this morning and we talked!"

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Sissi exclaimed. "You're serious? You actually sat with _Ulrich Stern_ this morning?"

"Yeah!" Then the tardy bell rang. "Oh, crap!" Yumi yelled. "See you later, Sissi!" she cried, bolting for her first class as Sissi did the same. She rushed to Mr. Fumet's class. She burst into the room, panting slightly, exactly 60 seconds after the bell rang.

"It's nice of you to finally join us, Ms. Ishiyama! Do you have an excuse for your tardy?"

"No, I do not, sir," she admitted, looking down.

"Well, since your record here at the school is spotless, and this is your first offense, I will let it slide just this once. Be tardy again and you can expect to reap the full consequences!"

"Thank you, sir," Yumi breathed gratefully.

"Now, please take your seat."

"Yes, sir." Yumi made her way toward her desk and took her seat, class then continuing as if nothing had ever happened.

* * *

Heehee, Yumi won't have much of a spotless record from now on, huh? Because little does she know that she and her new friends are going to discover a secret! Next chappie, the group makes a tour date to show Jeremy around town, since he's new.


	4. Author's Note

Sorry I haven't updated in a long time! I'm failing one of my classes and the rule is no posting until I get that grade up. I have to have the grade up to a 78 by March 19 to pass the class so I don't have to do summer school. I will update this summer, I promise, if I managed to pass the class, and I can find out by asking my teacher. See you all then!


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